Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska (née Kiyashko;[lower-alpha 1] born 6 February 1978) is a Ukrainian architect, screenwriter, and former model who is the current First Lady of Ukraine as the wife of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.[2]

Olena Zelenska
Олена Зеленська
Zelenska in 2022
First Lady of Ukraine
Incumbent
Assumed role 20 May 2019[1]
President	Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Preceded by	Maryna Poroshenko
Personal details
Born	Olena Volodymyrivna Kiyashko (1978-02-06) 6 February 1978 (age 44) Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine)
Spouse	Volodymyr Zelenskyy ​ ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	2
Relatives	Oleksandr Zelensky (father-in-law)
Alma mater	Kryvyi Rih National University
Occupation	Screenwriter model

Early life and career

Olena Kiyashko was born in Kryvyi Rih on 6 February 1978.[3][4] Her mother was the head engineer of a factory and her father taught construction at a technical university.[4]

Zelenska studied architecture at Kryvyi Rih National University.[5] In 2003, she became a scriptwriter for Kvartal 95, working as part of a team drafting comedy sketches that her future husband and other cast members would perform.[4]

First Lady of Ukraine

On 20 May 2019, Zelenska became the First Lady of Ukraine. On 18 November, she appeared on the cover of the December issue of the Ukrainian edition of Vogue. In an interview with the magazine, she spoke about her first initiative, nutrition reform in Ukrainian schools.[6][7]

At Zelenska's initiative, the reform of the school nutrition system started with a new school menu developed by chef Ievgen Klopotenko of CultFood. The reform is a complex program: from improving the quality, nutrition of food, and food safety to the provision of resources to schools. The updated school menu has 160 items: it includes both traditional Ukrainian dishes and popular dishes from different cuisines of the world.[8][9] The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved new food standards, which took effect on 1 September 2021.[10]

In December 2019, during a speech at the third Ukrainian Women's Congress, Zelenska initiated Ukraine's accession to the G7 international initiative on gender equality, the Biarritz Partnership,[11] which was finalized in September 2020.[12] In November 2020 and September 2021, Zelenska spoke at the Fourth and Fifth Ukrainian Women's Congresses,[13][14] a platform that brings together Ukrainian and international public figures, politicians, government officials, experts, and opinion leaders for equal rights for women and men.

On January 13, 2020, Volodymyr Zelenskyy included Olena on the board of the Art Arsenal, headed by Minister of Culture Volodymyr Borodiansky.[15]

In June 2020, Zelenska started an initiative to spread the Ukrainian language in the world and the introduction of Ukrainian-language audio guides in the most iconic places, particularly in the largest museums in the world.[16] As part of the initiative, 11 audio guides in Ukrainian were launched in 2020 in museums in Azerbaijan,[17] Austria,[18][19] Italy,[20][21] Latvia, Turkey,[22] and Montenegro,[23] as well as in two bus routes of Lithuania. In 2021, as part of Zelenska's initiative, Ukrainian-language audio guides were launched at the museum of Mount Vernon (the home of George Washington),[24][25] the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in California,[26] Versailles,[27] the Sagrada Família, Frederiksborg Castle,[28] the Hundertwasserhaus, Galata Tower,[29] and the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.[29]

Zelenska launched an online questionnaire in May 2020 about creating a barrier-free society,[30] in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine.[31] In December 2020, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and United Nations Development Program in Ukraine said that they would create a convenient catalog of services for vulnerable groups as part of Zelenska's "Without Barriers" initiative,[32] to be posted on the state portal "Action" in the category "Action. Without barriers."[33]

Zelenska initiated the Kyiv Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in August 2021,[34] with a theme of "Soft power in new reality".[35]

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zelenska was described as Russia's target number two. In mid-March, she was in Ukraine at an undisclosed location. She released a statement highlighting the names of children killed during the invasion.[36] During the war, her efforts have focused on humanitarian aid, especially the evacuation of children with disabilities through Poland and the importing of incubators to hospitals in warzone areas.[37] Zelenska made her first public appearance since the start of the invasion in a 8 May 2022 meeting with Jill Biden in Uzhhorod. Biden's trip to Ukraine, which coincided with Mother's Day as celebrated in the US and in Ukraine, was not publicly disclosed in advance.[38]

In September 2022, Zelenska was present as an invitee to Ursula von der Leyen's third State of the European Union address, where the EU Commission President rendered homage to her courage during the war in Ukraine.[39]

2022 Visit to the United States

On July 19, 2022, Zelenska started her visit to the United States.[40] On the first day of the visit, Zelenska met with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Samantha Power, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. On the second day of the visit, she held a meeting with the first lady of the United States, Jill Biden, at the White House.[41] Zelenska was also met on the porch of the White House by US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.[42] During the event, the National Program of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, the implementation of which started in Ukraine, was discussed.

Zelenska also addressed the US Congress on the second day of her visit, becoming the first First Lady of another country to speak before the US Congress. She called for more military aid to the Ukrainian Armed Forces to protect the country from Russian invasion.[43][44]

Zelenska dedicated the beginning of her speech to the families and children impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[41] One of the images included was of a four-year-old Liza Dmytriyeva, who was killed in an air strike in the central-western city of Vinnytsia.[43] Zelenska also showed photos and videos of the victims of the Kremenchuk shopping mall attack and other numerous victims of Russian invasion.[45]

I appeal to all of you on the behalf of those who were killed, on behalf of those people who lost their arms and legs, on behalf of those who are still alive and well and those who wait for their families to come back from the front. I'm asking for something now I would never want to ask. I am asking for weapons. Weapons that would not be used to wage a war on somebody else's land, but to protect one's home and the right to wake up alive in that home.

— Olena Zelenska

During the trip, Zelenska also accepted the Dissident Human Rights Award at the Victims of Communism Memorial in Washington, D.C. on behalf of the entire Ukrainian people.[41][46]

Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

On 19 September 2022, Zelenska attended the state funeral in London of Queen Elizabeth II to pay her respects to the late monarch "on behalf of all Ukrainians".[47]

Personal life

Zelenska and her future husband were schoolmates, though they did not know each other at that time. They became acquainted much later- during their time at university.[4] The relationship between the couple developed gradually; they dated for eight years before getting married on 6 September 2003.[48][5] On 15 July 2004, their daughter Oleksandra was born. On 21 January 2013, Kiyashko (now Zelenska) gave birth to their son Kyrylo.[48] Although Volodymyr Zelensky is a secular Jew, his two children with his Gentile (non-Jewish) wife have been baptized, according to press reports.[49] The family lives in Kyiv.[50]

Zelenska was hospitalized for observation on 16 June 2020 after testing positive for COVID-19.[51] The infection was described as "moderate severity" that did not need mechanical ventilation.[52] She was discharged from the hospital on 3 July 2020 with continued domestic treatment for bilateral pneumonia.[53]

See also

• Olena Zelenska Foundation

Notes

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Olena Zelenska.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska

• Media related to Olena Zelenska at Wikimedia Commons
• Official site
• Olena Zelenska on Telegram
• Olena Zelenska on Twitter
• Antrim, Taylor (8 April 2022). "Ukraine's First Lady, Olena Zelenska, on Life Under Siege—and How Her Country Is Moving Forward". Vogue. Interview

На других языках

[ru] Зеленская, Елена Владимировна